[WetWilly]

I've been lurking here picking up tips since I'd like to watercool my system with as little cost as possible. Since I don't want to spend more for a fan shroud than I did for the heater core and I don't have DodgeViper's impressive shop skills or workshop to put together the nice shrouds he has, I started looking around for something that wouldn't require a lot of tools or, perhaps more important, skill to assemble. All that's required is an X-Acto knife and a saw to cut some threaded rods. You won't even need a ruler. Figured I'd share what I did as my first post here.

Parts:
1 - Gladware entree size container - $2.49 for pack of 5
2 - 12" 6-32 threaded rods from Home Depot - $0.76 ea or $1.52
1 - pack of 6-32 machine screw nuts - $0.83
1 - pack of #6 washers - $0.83
Pen refill or other small diameter rod
X-Acto knife
Saw or Dremel to cut the threaded rods into 6" lengths

1) On your next trip to the supermarket check out the Gladware plastic food storage containers. Look for the Entree container (3 1/8 cup/25oz/739ml size). There are 5 to a package. The measurements of the containers are 6 3/8" x 6 1/2" x 2" - which is about the same size of the Chevette heater core's finned area.

2) If you flip the container over, on the bottom there's an indented section that's embossed with the word "Glad." As it turns out, this indented section almost exactly matches the hole size for a 120mm fan. Use the X-Acto knife to cut out the inner, recessed section. Instead of using heavy pressure to cut the plastic in one pass, I ran the X-Acto knife around the edge of the indentation 3 times and got a perfect cut.

3) At this point you can skip to Step 4 and mount the fan - you'll have a shroud that's 2" deep. I wanted a slightly shallower shroud, about 1 1/2". To do that, use the X-Acto knife to cut the bowl away from the rim. Again, there's an indentation there that you can use to guide the blade. You'll now have two pieces - the bowl and the rim. Save the rim for later.

4) Cut the 2 threaded rods in half (into 4 pieces). Place the fan on a table and center the bowl over the fan. Use the X-Acto knife to cut 4 small holes to match the fan's mounting holes. You don't have to be exact here - I made a small hole, pushed in the threaded rod and used it as a rasp to expand the hole as needed. Push the 4 rods through the plastic bowl and into the fan mounting holes. Attach nuts to threaded rods to keep fan in place.

5) Center the fan assembly over the radiator and note the spots where the threaded rods will go through the heater core. Use the pen refill to gently expand the space between the fins where the threaded rods will pass through. Push the 4 rods through these spaces just to the point you can securely thread a nut and washer. Install the washer and nut on the threaded rod to secure the assembly to the heater core.

6) Tighten the nuts on the fan until the new shroud is pressed firmly against the heater core. If the plastic has deformed slightly, put your finger through the fan opening and press it back out into shape. If you had cut off the rim of the container in Step 3, now you'll use it. With the open part of the rim toward the heater core, put the rim over the fan and press it down. It will fit very snugly on the shroud and keeps the edges from deforming. The rim can go on one of two ways since the container wasn't square; if it's loose, turn it 90º and try again.

7) If you look through the fan's opening you should see 4 small sections of plastic where the shroud's square opening was slightly smaller than the fan's round opening. Insert the X-Acto knife through the fan; touch the blade to the plastic and use the fan as a guide to shave off the 4 small pieces. This will give you an unobstructed opening. You may also need to trim off any excess length of threaded rod.

I was going to put down some weatherstripping before I attached the shroud, but I tried it as-is and found that with the rim in place there didn't seem to be any air escaping from around the shroud. I can always add the weatherstripping without disassembling the whole thing by inserting it into the channel in the rim. Also (surprisingly) it doesn't look nearly as ghetto as it sounds. If it were sanded and painted black to match the fan I don't anybody would look twice at it. The only relative drawback is that the shroud doesn't allow airflow to the 4 corners of the heater core; I'd guess it covers ~90% of the finned area. I don't have any pictures but I'll see what I can do.

Since I had a container the total cost was ~$3.50 for the attachment hardware. Even if I had to buy a 5-pack of containers the total would have been only ~$6.00. If you use zipties to attach the shroud to the heater core it'd cost even less.

Hope this helps someone out there.

Edit: The pics are about 10 posts down; go down a bit further to 1/25/03 and TyRex has posted a pic of his dual shroud setup

[n_ick2000]

Heh, interesting concept. I just might try this someday when I buy all my watercooling stuff. Defidently sounds like it can same some money.

[Toysrme]

That's absolutely a great idea! Guy I think this one's border line sticky yall??? Maybe get a few more How-to-shroud-for-very-cheap and then stick'em up. (What's really sad is I use these bowls to make ramen in the door microwave 2 feet away from me LoL!)

-Toysrme

[WetWilly]

What's really sad is I use these bowls to make ramen in the door microwave 2 feet away from me

LOL! That's how I found the container - while scrounging in the kitchen.

[briman1000]

Awesome easy cheap shroud idea. It will replace my duct tape and cardboard that I have now. I also don't have the means or tools or ability to make the shrouds some of these guys show on here and I refuse to pay $45 for 2 of them from dtek no matter how "nice" they look.

[Eclypsyr]

looks really cool man, and btw......
Welcome to the forums!
nice to see a quality first post

-Dae-

[Toysrme]

No kidding, beat's the hell outta mine from last year. May it be continued to be burried in peace. <g>

-Toysrme

[lebe0024]

we're definitely going to need a pic.

[WetWilly]

Thanks for the welcome. I'll try to post some pics within the next 2-3 days.

[WetWilly]

OK, here are the pics:

First up is a pic after Step 2 - cutting out the indented section on the bottom



At this point, you can continue with Step 4 and you'll have a 2" deep shroud. If you want a shallower shroud (1 1/2"), cut the rim from the bowl. If you look at the picture above, you'll see a line where the bowl meets the rim. Just run the X-Acto along that ridge/indent for an easy cut. When you're done you'll have these three pieces:



After the shroud is mounted on the fan, flip the rim over (so the top of the rim is facing you and the open channel is facing the heater core) and fit it snugly on the shroud. This will reinforce the edges of the shroud and keep you from deforming the edges. The rim fits very snugly over the bowl - if it doesn't rotate it 90º since the bowl isnt' quite square. It should look like this:



When you're finished it will/should look like this mounted:



I haven't trimmed the threaded rods since I haven't mounted it in my case yet

IMHO it looks pretty decent, probably since with the rim it almost exactly matches the dimensions of the heater core's finned area. With a bit of scuffing with sandpaper and some spray paint I don't think it'd look like a $3.50 shroud. Better yet, as briman1000 noted, a dual shroud setup would cost ~$8.00 - just get a pack of containers, 4 12" rods, probably 2 packs of machine nuts and a pack of washers.

As for the corners that don't get airflow, from the pic you should see that the uncovered corners areas aren't that big.

[OC Noob]

tag

[lebe0024]

great first post. It looks great man. Well done!

[briman1000]

Yeah I got 2 stealth 120s coming friday and will have mine set up in a push pull config. Its funny but I got the same exact rods and nuts and bolts and washers from home depot but was using duct tape and cardboard instead of the gladware in the same exact configuration like you have it. I see the gladware as better looking, more permanent and cheap! just never thought of it.

[Toysrme]

WoW! That comes out looking 100% better than I though it would also. I'm still pushing for a sticky.

-Toysrme

[Eclypsyr]

great pics, think the shroud would hold up a heavier fan?
i.e. the evercool Al 120mm fan

[WetWilly]

great pics, think the shroud would hold up a heavier fan?

Thanks. It was a little difficult to get a good angle shot that would give you an idea of how the assembled shroud looks. I also tried to play with the pics a bit so dial up people wouldn't have to wait all day for them.

I'm not familiar with the weight of that Evercool fan, but you could probably use additional nuts & washers for more stability. I'd think something like this would work (N/W = nut/washer combo):

N/W |--Heater Core--| N/W |--Shroud-- N/W | Fan | Mounting surface | N/W

The first two nut/washer combos would keep the mounting rods firmly against the heater core and add extra stability. The third nut/washer combo would be inside the shroud; this would keep the fan pressed firmly against the shroud without distorting the shroud when the fourth nut/washer set is used to mount the heater core assembly; i.e. it isolates the last pressure points to the fan only, since the fan is kept in place on the rods by the nut/washers inside the shroud.

The only additional cost would be the machine nuts. If you're buying more than one $0.83 bag of nuts you'd might as well spring for the box of 100 nuts which runs ~$2.50 at Home Depot. The $0.83 plastic bag of #6 washers should be more than sufficient (IIRC there were around 30 washers in the bag ).

Speaking of Home Depot, they had 36" 6-32 threaded rods. I passed on them because:

1) They weren't in very good shape - ALL of them were bent to various degrees
2) One 36" rod was only $0.09 cheaper than three 12" rods
3) The 12" rods were a lot easier to work with in this case

[EluSiOn]

very nice debut post.....

You have saved many $$$ for many people $$$... great thread and great instructions with pictures.

I am one of those who paid D-Tek big buck for the nice looking shroud. I just wish knew this thread earlier

[WetWilly]

Thanks. I seriously thought about the D-Tek shrouds, but what got me was the fact that a shroud + shipping would be about half the cost of the waterblock I wanted to get (the Swiftech MCW5000).

BTW I checked out the Evercool aluminum fan Daedalus mentioned and it looks pretty nice, plus the specs are a lot better than the GlobalWin 64.8 CFM @ 46 dBA fan that's in the pics. I ordered an Evercool with the MCW5000, so I'll report back when I get it (hopefully in a week or two) how well the fan mounts on the shroud/heater core.

[EluSiOn]

I am pushing this thread for a sticky as well... this kind of DIY thread is great.

[SemiCycle]

There's always more then one way to skin a cat and you have proved it with this excellent mod job. It looks great.

[bongo]

Very nice.....

I guess I gotta go out in the mourning and hit the supermarket.
hehehe

[briman1000]

I made one with vantec stealth 120's and it works good only one little annoying thing I this howling sound coming from the fans. They are nearly silent alone but the 2 in a push pull makes this high pitched howling sound. I duct taped the gaps between the shroud and the rad and that helped quiet it down a little but its still there. temps were 35c idle with one fan and now are 33c idle with the push pull.

[HighFlowRod]

I must say that is a great Idea

[WetWilly]

Thanks again guys.

I made one with vantec stealth 120's and it works good only one little annoying thing I this howling sound coming from the fans. They are nearly silent alone but the 2 in a push pull makes this high pitched howling sound. I duct taped the gaps between the shroud and the rad and that helped quiet it down a little but its still there. temps were 35c idle with one fan and now are 33c idle with the push pull.

I haven't tried a push-pull config since I don't two fans, but I did cut another shroud and play a bit with the single fan setup. This was with the admittedly loud fan I mentioned above, a GlobalWin 120mm 64.8cfm @ 46dBA. That taken into account, here's what I found.

1) With a single, push-only fan, I couldn't detect any significant noise other than that made by the fan

2) WIth the fanless second shroud in place there was a very slight howling sound. Using my hand to unscientifically detect airflow about 1 1/2" away from the heater core, the airflow out/away from the core was much stronger with the shroud in place. If I moved my hand closer to the second shroud the howl increased in pitch and volume. I'd guess the noise is coming from the air being forced from the larger area of the heater core back down to the ~120mm hole instead of being dispersed. From what briman1000 experienced, it's almost as if the second fan is acting as an obstruction in the airflow, at least in terms of noise.

3) I thought there might be an alignment issue with the second shroud, i.e. the air might be "catching" the rim. I'd mounted the rim with the channel facing down because it fit with friction (no glue needed) and it left a channel in which it would be easy to mount weatherstripping. I tried the second shroud without the rim and with the rim reversed but it didn't seem to make any difference. I also used a thin piece of paper to test for air leaking from around the shrouds (to see if weatherstripping might make a difference). I didn't get any fluttering of the paper around the edges of the shroud.

I checked all of the above with the fan pushing and pulling (pulling didn't make any difference). Also, I used a 1 1/2" shroud. I'm not sure if using the 2" shroud for the pull side would make any difference. Right now I'm out of containers.

[The Spyder]

that has to be a GREAT shroud....... exclent innovation ~ only one suggestion....... paint it ;P

[Chrisdafu]

What about drilling some holes in the shroud with the air being forced out. This would let a little more air through and maybe lowering the noise. And hey its not like they are expensive if it doesnt work out good. Time to go "borrow" some containers from my mom.

[SkiFletch]

sweeeeet, say goodbye to the duct tape and cardboard

[WetWilly]

OK, got the Evercool 120mm fan. Definitely nicer than the GlobalWin. Mounted it up with no problems at all - the additional weight of the aluminum frame doesn't seem to make any difference at all.

When I get some time I'll try the Evercool & GlobalWin in a push-pull config to check out the noise situation.

[grindee]

cardboard works, its not too visually appealing tho, but it works great, and its cheap.

[grindee]

i have two of them for my two heater cores by the way.